The Key of Irkalla
by kamilakocot
Summary: Born and raised in a family of Muggles, Annabelle Aiken never knew of her witch heritage. Her foster parents convince her to attend Hogwarts, like her mother did. As if learning magic and the ways of the wizard world isn't hard enough already, Anna finds out her parents left her something behind. Something powerful and dangerous, that she must never let fall into the wrong hands.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Lane and James Hinsworth were a fairly normal. They woke up, got ready, sent their children to school, and worked. They had fairly normal jobs. Lane was a teacher at the elementary school down the road and James was a lawyer. A good one, in fact. But he was not doing very well at his job on this particular day. He simply couldn't focus on his work. The poor man's sister and her husband had died, and he was particularly worried about the two children that now had no home. He had six children of his own. He had thought to offer to take one of them, but they simply could not take two more kids into their crowded house. They didn't want to separate the siblings either.

James had wrapped up his work for the day and had headed out to the back lot where he parked his car. He climbing in and started the engine, before heading home. The drive through the city was as long as ever, with the usual traffic making the three miles take forty-five minutes to get home. He sighed and tapped his hands on the steering wheel. He thought about his sister and her husband. He thought about their kids. He sighed again. He tried to remember the children's names. They lived quite far and had only seen twice in the past few years. They had a boy and a girl, he believed.

James had only met his nephew, but the girl He knew the boy was older, but his name seemed to have escaped his mind. It started with an 'R' didn't it? Ryan? No, not that. Perhaps Riley? No not that either. James rubbed his eyes and leaned forward until his head rested on the steering wheel. He was pretty sure the girl's name was Annabelle, or something of the sort. His head jerked back up as the car behind his angrily honked their horn at him. He looked up and saw the light was green. He pushed down on the pedal and continued on his way home.

He arrived and drove up the drive, making sure not no run over any bikes, skateboards, and (god forbid!) children, before putting his car into park. He gathered his things and took a breath and then got out of his car.

"Daddy's home!" a shriek sounded.

James smiled and looked to see what was going on in their yard today. The oldest, Bellamy, who had just turned nine, was digging in the mud with the second oldest, Callum (seven). They had ruined their school pants and surely were going to be in trouble when their mother saw them. The fraternal twins, Rhys and Cressida, both six, were fighting over a toy. It was Cress' doll and James couldn't imagine why Rhys wanted it. The youngest were inside. James waved to his kids and then headed inside. His wife was cooking dinner. His two youngest kids. Clarke, four, and Gwendolyn, three.

"Oh, James, welcome home," his wife, Lane, planted a swift kiss on her husband's cheek before getting back to her task, "Can you call the kids in? I'm nearly done- Clarke! Don't chew on the furniture!"

Clarke, who was nibble on the couch cousins, started to cry and James scooped him up, before headed back to the door calling, "Supper!" knowing the kids would in the house in a matter of seconds. He put Clarke and little Gwen in their high chairs and passed out plates to each kid as they sat in the chairs around the dark oak table. The once smooth material was now covered in paints and spills that never could get cleaned up. Lane circled the table passing out biscuits and pouring beans onto the plates. James settled in his chair the kids eagerly looked down at their plates. After squeezing into her chair, Lane smiled and they began their prayer.

"Angels bless and angels keep,

thank you for the food we eat.

Bless my family, bless my home,

Bless me everywhere I roam,

Guide and guard me everyday,

with what I do and where I stay."

The children dug into their food and conversation sounded throughout their room. Of course, James wanted to hear about how Callum's friend Jack lost a tooth and obviously, James wanted to hear about how Cressida lost her bracelet at school. Cress and Rhys were arguing again about the doll, and James decided to stay out of that conversation. AT least until it got out of hand. Lane told him that Gwen was talking more and more and was saying full sentences with little trouble. James was proud. He recalled the problem that had been bugging him all day.

"Lane, you remember my sister, Amelie and her husband Blake?" he softly asked, so the kids couldn't hear.

"The one with Rowan and Annabel?"

"Yes," _Rowan_ , he thought, _how could I forget?_

"What about them, dear?" Lane prompted him.

"They, well… I received a letter this morning at work. They died last week in a fire, and their children have no home," he let out a long sigh. His third of the day.

"Oh, honey I'm so sorry… Those poor kids… Who will take care of them?"

"I thought we could take one of them, maybe, I know we can't take both…"

"Oh, James," she whispered, "We'll take one of them, we can do it… Oh, if only we can take them both."

"I'll write up the man who sent me the first letter."

"Alright," Lane hung her head, "Those poor kids…"

And so, that was how a small bundle ended up in the arms of Lane Hinsworth, now a mother of seven. The other kids crowded around her gazing curiously down at the tiny squirming baby as their mother explained, "Kids, this is Annabelle. She's our new sister. She's really your cousin, but her mom and dad can't take care of her, and so now she's ours. Do you guys hear what I'm saying?"

"She's our sister?" Rhys asked.

"Yes, just like Cress and Gwen."

"How old is she?" Callum poked her cheek.

Annabelle yawned and made a gurgling noise.

"Thirteen months."

Lane tickled under the baby's chin and Annabelle giggled. The others leaned in, saying she was adorable and cute. They didn't care that she wasn't their real sister. She might as well be now. As the kids reached out to touch Annabelle's little toes or her hands, Lane leaned back and smiled. Angels bless her family and her new baby. Bless them all.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

Quiet was luxury in the Hinsworth house. One that didn't come often. So on the first morning of July, Annabelle Hinsworth was up at the crack of dawn. The now ten year old girl was curled up on her bed, if you could call it that. It was more like a shelf. A wooden wall on either side of her and one below, one over. Cress had help Anna put up a curtain to block the third side. It was her own little den, and her only place to get any privacy in the entire house. She had two blankets and a pillow and she kept all her pencils and pens and paper in the bed. She had all her drawings taped up to the wall, starting with the worse ones and ending at her better, more recent one.

This leads to why Anna was up so early. She wanted to finish a drawing and could never get enough quiet to focus. She was laying on her stomach with the paper beneath her and was drawing a castle. There were towers that reached high into the sky and it had many windows, small and big. It was positioned body of water, maybe a lake. Anna was coloring it in now. She shaded in the blue sky and the grass and reached for another pencil, but couldn't find it anywhere. She sighed. She left several of them in the kitchen.

Pushing the curtain aside, Anna climbed out of the self and tiptoed across the bedroom. Cress snored in her bed and Gwen was lying facedown in hers. Anna stepped over pile of clothes, and slowly opened the door. Once she was in the hallway she wasn't as careful. She walked past the boy's bedroom and her parent's room. She crossed the living room and grabbed her pencils off the counter when she heard a soft bang. The mail slot? Anna tucked her pencils in the waistband of her pajamas and went to pick up the mail.

She picked up the mail and shifted through it. A yellow letter addressed to Lane Hinsworth, two to James, and one to Bellamy. The letter on the bottom was made of a thick parchment. Anna flipped it over and blinked in surprise at the name on the front. Annabelle "Hinsworth" Aiken. No one knew her real last name was Aiken. Expect for Annabelle's family of course. She had only found out a few months ago that she wasn't even the daughter of who she thought were her parents. She had been upset at first, but nobody treated her any differently than before, and life moved on.

Anna glanced back toward when her parents slept. She tucked the other letters under her arm and opened the letter slowly, peeling back a wax stamp that had the letter 'H' on it. She read the letter aloud to herself in a whisper, "Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," she frowned and kept reading, "Dear, Miss Aiken, we are pleased to announce that you have been accepted at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September first. We await your owl by no later than July thirty first." Anna placed the letter back in the envelope with shaking hands and put it with the other letter in the living room before going back to her shelf. She could no longer focus on the drawing and went back to sleep.

The very same morning, when Anna got up a second time, it was much lighter outside and when she got up and went to get breakfast, she saw her parents whispering at the table, and her mom had the letter clutched in her hand. They abruptly cut off when Callum called out to Anna from the couch.

"G'morning Anna," he said with a yawn.

"Good morning," she replied.

"Anna, come here please," Lane sounded nervous.

"What's the matter?" Anna was nervous too.

"Sit down with us," James motioned to the seat next to him.

Annabelle climbed up into the seat and looked at their worried faces, "I read the letter, I'm sorry! I was addressed to me I just wanted to see what it said," she broke the tension that was building up, "It's crazy, about wizards and witches and things."

Lane laughed, "Oh, love, it's alright."

"Anna, your mother was my sister, and her name was Amele. She married a man named Blake. They weren't… well... very much like us," James paused. "My sister got this very same letter when she was your age, and your father did as well."

"It's real?" Anna's voice was small.

"Very real," James replied, "And you are going to go to school there."

"It's a joke!"

Lane took Anna's hand, "No, Annabelle, it's not. Your parents would have wanted this for you, and we want what they wanted. We want what's best for you."

"I don't want to leave…" Anna started to tear up, "Papa…"

James took Anna's other hand, "You'll be with kids just like yourself, you'll make friends, and you'll be back for Christmas. We'll miss you terribly, but you really should go."

"To learn magic? Papa this sounds crazy," Anna knew they weren't going to budge, but tried anyway, "I'm not going to some school for magicians."

"Your brother goes there. Your _real_ brother."

Anna sucked in a breath. She'd always wanted to meet him. Rowan. And to get a chance to learn about her real parents? She could feel herself giving up. Magic did sound pretty cool, didn't it? Instead of replying, she picked up the letter and read the list on the second page, "Robes? Wands? Mama, where am I going to get these things?"

"I know just the person to help."


End file.
